TOP 13 most dangerous airports in the world - description with photo

Many pilots believe that the most dangerous stages during a flight are takeoff and landing. But in the world there are such airports in which it is scary even for highly professional pilots to lift a plane into the air and land it - they are forced to show real miracles of maneuvering! Below is a selection of the most dangerous airports in the world.

13. Airport on Madeira Island in Portugal

The airdrome, which will be discussed later, was built in 1964. During its existence, he changed several names: Santa Catarina, Funchal, Madeira, and since 2016 it is the Cristiano Ronaldo Airport.

He was assigned to the dangerous air harbors of the world in 1977, after a terrible plane crash that claimed the lives of 131 people. The runway (Runway) was too short, and the pilot began to land 300 meters beyond the designated point, which is why the plane crashed into a mountain.

Work on increasing the runway lasted 8 years, and now it has a length of 2777 m. Most of it is the overpass, which is located on pillar-posts made of reinforced concrete. There are 180 such pillars, all have a diameter of 3 m, the height of some reaches 50 m.

Thanks to this engineering solution, the danger of landing in the air harbor on Madeira Island was reduced to some extent. Although the airfield still continues to be one of the most extreme on the planet, occupying the last, 13th place among them.

12. Narsarsuaq Airfield in Greenland

On the 12th place on this list is Narsarsuaq Airport, located north of the city of Narsaq. This is the most important traffic intersection of South Greenland and the only international airport in Greenland.

In addition, Narsarsuaq is also a real historical attraction: it appeared in 1941 as the American military base Blue West One. Currently, flights are made from Greenfield to Copenhagen from this airdrome, and also to Reykjavik in the summer, that is, the path of combat aircraft being distilled during the Second World War is repeated.

The airfield has one runway laid out of concrete slabs - its length is 1830 m and its width is 45 m.

The small length of the runway and the many fjords located very close by is not all the danger. In this area there is increased turbulence, and even when the usual strong and gusty wind is absent. Extremely well trained and experienced professionals are allowed to fly in this region with such extreme climatic conditions.

11. Bamda Airport in China

Bamda is the highest altitude airfield in the world, it is located among the mountains of Tibet, at an altitude of 4334 m above sea level.

The runway is no less shocking than the height: it is the longest runway in the world among civilian airports - 5500 m. Such a runway length may seem unnecessary, but with increased rarefaction of air, this indicator is extremely important. Due to the increased thinness of the air, which is observed high in the mountains, the operation of the engines is significantly complicated and the thrust is reduced, and this, in turn, prevents the aircraft from quickly rising into the air. This is the main reason why Bamda takes 11th place in the ranking of the most difficult airports in the world for landing and take-off.

10. Icy runway at the Novolazarevskaya station in Antarctica

In 1961, on the coast of the Queen Maud Land, approximately 80 km from the Lazarev Sea, the Soviet Antarctic Novolazarevskaya station was created.

In 1979, 12 km south of it, an airfield was built to receive the Il-76. The airfield is one of the largest in Antarctica, it is equipped with concrete parking lots and routes for takeoffs and landings.

He is the 10th of the most dangerous and terrible on our planet. Extreme climatic conditions are of particular concern, not the location of the airport. The real and really scary problem can be the weight of the aircraft - a huge machine can break the ice or load in soft snow.

9. Princess Juliana Airport on St. Martin's Island in the Netherlands

Another of the scariest airfields in the world is Princess Juliana International Airport. The butt of its runway is located close to the popular Maho beach among vacationers.

Departing for landing, airplanes fly low over the beach (10-20 m), almost touching tourists resting there. Gorgeous photos of one of the most dangerous airports in the world and vivid impressions of the view of huge colossus flying overhead are guaranteed.

Take-offs are just as extreme and complex: the pilot is forced to make a sharp U-shaped turn to avoid a collision with an upright rock.

The shock wave from the engines has such terrible power that it literally knocks down many interesting extremals watching flights from Maho beach.

8. Tonkotin Airport in Honduras

The next, 8th on the list, of the worst airports in the world is Toncontin, operating in Honduras, in the capital city of Tegucigalpa.

The airfield was built in a valley around which mountains rise. Runways are equipped at an altitude of 1005 m above sea level, their length does not exceed 2163 m. Since these routes are very short and laid close to the mountains, aircraft have to overcome mountains at an angle of 45 °. An additional complication is created by winds, forcing to amend literally in the last moments.

In the spring of 2008, the plane of the TACA airline did not stay on the runway and crashed into cars standing on the waterfront, defeating several of them. At the same time, 65 people were injured, 5 died. And this is not the first terrible catastrophe at Toncontin airport: in the fall of 1989, a TAN-SAHSA Boeing hit a rock during landing. There were a lot of victims in this disaster - out of 146 people on board, 131 died.

Despite such terrible risk factors, this extreme airfield receives many flights every day.

7. Kansai Airport in Japan

Kansai International Airport is an ensemble of buildings erected directly at sea on an artificially constructed island in the Gulf of Osaka near the city of Osaka. The island is 4 km long and 2.5 km wide.

Unfortunately, even the Japanese engineers were unable to figure out how terrible the pace Kansai would dive: only in 1994 the island sank 50 cm. Now this speed has significantly decreased, but for this I had to resort to vigorous action and spend billions of dollars extra .

Kansai, this true engineering masterpiece, ranks 7th among the world's most dangerous air harbors.

6. Gustaf III Airport in Saint Barthélemy

Airport Gustaf III, which is also known as Saint Barthelemy, is located in the Caribbean Sea, on the island of Saint Barthelemy.

The runway has a length of only 650 m, in addition, it was built in an incredibly narrow corridor, bounded by rocks on the sides. During landing, aircraft approach extremely close to the mountain slopes, which threatens to fall directly into the ocean.

Gustaf III is a well-deserved 6th place among airports with terrible landing conditions.

5. Courchevel Airport in France

The next of the airports worldwide recognized as terrible and dangerous is Courchevel, serving the French resort of the same name.

The airport is located among the mountains, at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level. This air harbor has an extremely short runway - its length is 525 m and the slope is 18.5 °.

The functionality of the airport is also limited by technical conditions due to the lack of an approach scheme for navigation instruments. This leads to the fact that landing during fogs or low clouds is completely impossible here.

By the way, extreme Courchevel became famous all over the world thanks to the film "Tomorrow Never Dies." There is an episode in the picture when James Bond lands an airplane on the dangerous and even terrible landing strip of this small airport in France.

4. Tenzing and Hillary Airport in Nepal

In eastern Nepal, there is a dangerous and extreme airport that occupies the 4th position in the rating - this is the airport named after Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, who became world famous as the first conquerors of Everest. Until 2008, the airport was known as Lukla Airport.

The runway, whose length is only 527 m, is located at a slope of 12 ° - because of this, its ends have 60 m of height difference. The difficult terrain caused one end of the runway to be used for landing, located on the edge of a cliff 700 m deep, and for takeoffs, another located at the foot of the ridge 4000 m high.

Dense clouds and strong winds create an additional and very terrible danger here.

This air port has earned the title of "most extreme airport in the world" for one more reason: takeoffs and landings are carried out only by VFR, since of all known navigation systems, only a radio station is used here.

3. Matekane Runway in the Kingdom of Lesotho

The Matekane runway is called the airport in the Kingdom of Lesotho. In principle, this is not at all an airport in the usual sense for people around the world: on a mountain plateau, a 400 m long runway ends, ending in a cliff 600 m deep.

Rarely what kind of flying vehicle can accelerate and rise in height before this strip ends. During the development of the project, engineers assumed that to gain the required altitude during takeoff, the aircraft would go into free fall.

In 2009, at this extreme airport, it was forbidden to make air transportation of local and international destination. But for private flights of small aircraft, this dangerous and extreme airport continues to be used now.

Its place among the world's airports with the most terrible flight conditions is 3.

2. Juancho Irauskin Airport on Saba Island in the Netherlands

Huancho-Irauskin, designed for international flights, is the most dangerous airport in the world near the sea and the second in the rating of the most extreme. It is located among the waters of the Caribbean Sea, on the island of Saba, and is intended for the landing of aircraft aircraft of only three types.

Windward islands airways

The shortest take-off route in the world (about 400 m), surrounded by steep cliffs and the sea, is equipped at this airfield. A very strong wind also adds complexity, which also constantly changes its direction.

Flights are carried out only by the crews of the local airline Windward Islands Airways, who have undergone special training. For private flights, Huancho-Irauskin is closed, because the slightest mistake when taking off or landing will lead to terrible consequences!
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1. Paro Airport in the Kingdom of Bhutan

Paro Airport is located 6 km from the city of Paro, in a small valley of the Paro River, surrounded by the peaks of the Himalayas 5 km high.

It was the location that caused this air harbor to be recognized as the most extreme in the world for landing, because the crew has to make incredible turns in the mountains. Takeoff is no less terrible and dangerous: the plane flies in a spiral right above the airport, gradually gaining altitude and rising above the Himalayas. Such tricks are possible only during the day and only in good weather conditions.

Around the world, only a few pilots (according to various sources, it is from 8 to 25 professionals) have a license and permission to perform such rapid and extreme maneuvers in dangerous conditions.

Paro Airport in Bhutan has a leading position in the list of "most dangerous airports in the world."

And what does landing in the most terrible airports of the world look like through the eyes of a pilot? Watch the video if you are not afraid to undermine the nervous system.